China’s consumer price index rose 0.1% in June from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said, ending a four-month stretch of deflation and beating economists’ consensus for another 0.1% decline. Core inflation, which excludes food and energy, quickened to 0.7% while food prices remained soft, slipping 0.3% on the year. On a month-on-month basis, headline prices fell 0.1%. Factory-gate prices moved in the opposite direction. The producer price index fell 3.6% year on year, a sharper drop than May’s 3.3% decline and the steepest deflation since July 2023. Broad price weakness was registered across fuel, ferrous metals and chemicals, with the PPI down 0.4% from May. The divergence highlights China’s persistent disinflationary headwinds even as modest consumer-side support measures lift demand. Economists say deepening price competition at home and the 145% U.S. tariff on Chinese goods, in effect since April, are eroding margins and heightening calls for additional fiscal spending or a People’s Bank of China rate cut later this year.